As Champions for a Drug Free Carroll County coordinator and after being involved with the coalition since 2006, it amazes me the number of people that still do not know about this wonderful organization or exactly what it is we do.

At no fault to our staff or coalition, it is difficult to inform every single individual in the community on what our goals and successes are. I would like to take this opportunity to reach out, to educate and inform you about what Champions for a Drug Free Carroll County is all about. Our mission is simple: To work with the community to reduce and prevent substance use and violence among youth, their families and those in future generations.

We do this by hosting events and sponsoring organizations that reduce substance abuse among youth. In a nutshell, our main goal is to educate people about and prevent substance abuse, and to point individuals in the right direction if they need treatment.

Our office is open to the community and is housed right on Carroll County Schools’ campus near the high school. We have thousands of resources, pinpointing drugs from hookah and heroin to methamphetamine and marijuana.

The Champions’ office is here for you and your needs, whether it is help for a friend, educate your child or to help you with personal issues. Champions is a confidential resource you can count on for information and prevention.

The following are a few programs we are proud to bring to our community and Carroll County Schools.

Starting Sept. 10, we will meet weekly with Junior Champions at Carroll County Middle School Lighthouse to educate students in sixth through eighth grade on the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Monthly we meet with CHAMPS, a high school club that will start Aug. 29; the goal is to educate and have fun while doing so.

We also hold regular coalition meetings at 11:30 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Carroll County Public Library. Food is provided. This meeting is open to the entire community, and anyone can come to see what we have been up to. You can see the success we’ve had and will continue to have with community support.

I could go on in much more detail about the many programs that Champions offers to the community and the personalized attention that is offered, but if you are interested in attending or helping with any or all events, please call me or Kimberly Fain at the office, (502) 732-8304. We can guide you in the right direction or give you more insight into the abundance of programs that we offer to the community.

I wanted to highlight one event that we recently made possible for our community, the KASPER Presentation, Aug. 20. This presentation was given by KASPER Manager Dave Hopkins and was extremely insightful.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this program, it is Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting Program and holds many advantages.

This event was free to the community; food was provided along with vital information that was relevant and astounding. If you would like a copy of the presentation or more information on the topic, please email me at hayley.franklin@carroll.kyschools.us.

One of the biggest problems this community faces is the drug epidemic and the plague it has placed upon our youth and families. Champions wants to put an end to that. Please, if you know about Champions and what we do, spread the word and make it a familiar household name that everyone will soon know and come to love as a great resource and sponsor of family-oriented events with great, useful information. If you do not know about Champions, I hope this article has shed some light onto the unfamiliarity.

Please do not hesitate to sit in on a coalition meeting to learn more, you can also call me at any time at (502) 732-8304, email me confidentially at the above address or visit our Facebook Page at “Carroll County Champions.” There is a direct link to our website on Facebook as well. I hope these outlets will help everyone gain a better understanding of what Champions for a Drug Free Carroll County is and what we do, as well as what we hope to do in the future because you are the future, and it can be a bright one.

Hayley Franklin is coordinator of Champions for a Drug Free Carroll County.